I just have to fight my style of fight, which is a lot of pressure.
— Cain Velasquez
I think if something's wrong with me, I just kind of work through it. That's my mentality.
I would go into practice pushing the body despite any injuries. It's a good thing but a bad thing. It's good because your body is quick to adapt, but it's a bad thing because you are forcing your body, and it can't recover as well.
In wrestling, I was always competing against bigger guys.
The hardest fights I've had have been in the gym, not in the cage. It keeps you motivated. One day, you'll go in and feel like you can beat anybody in the world. The next day, you kind of get humbled. That's what keeps us coming back to train more and more.
I wasn't thinking that I was going to go through my career undefeated. You expect to lose sometimes.
I'm still in the gym every day for training, putting in the same hard work every week. That's the only way I know how to do it.
Seeing Mexicans in the media is rare. Seeing role models on TV is rare. So who do we look up to? We're not seen on football fields or basketball courts. So we look up to fighters; they're Mexican. They are out there fighting, representing their people, and winning champions. We look up to them.
I know I can eat a lot. Normally, at home, I finish my steak, eat the rest of my fiancee's steak, and think about eating the two that are still left on the grill. I just can't stop eating.
Partnering with MetroPCS is a great opportunity for me. It's great to be partnered with a company that serves a consumer similar to the UFC and my fan base.
When you train the way I do, injuries are going to happen.
I don't really care who I fight as long as it's the better guy.
I think of all my fights as title fights. I don't think about what can come up afterwards.
Hard work and sacrifice can get you a long way.
I just look at what's ahead of me. I don't think about, 'For my legacy, I need to do this, this, and this.' I just focus on every fight and how to win that fight.
Fight night, I have to go out there and perform. I have to go out there and do what I've been trained to do. It has to come my way. I have to go out there and take it.
I didn't see anybody in the media or on TV that played sports that looked like me. I didn't have those things growing up. Now that I'm in that position, I'm happy to be that person if I can.
When I train, I train well.
In training, I felt like my body would switch one way, but my leg would kind of stay in one direction. So I kind of felt like it wasn't stable.
The mentality is nonstop, to work for what you want, your mind keeping your body in the best shape possible.
You have to set up the right technique to get that takedown. It can't just be any shot. You have to really set it up.
I feel great being the first Mexican heavyweight UFC champion.
I'd like to give some attention to my family, hang out with them for a little while. They definitely deserve it.
I fight with a lot of heart.
My experience here at the WWE Performance Center has been amazing. I'm just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can the time that I'm here. I've been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.
You have to work your way up the ladder just like everybody else. Nothing is given to you in this world, so you have to work hard.
This whole thing is - our window to be able to fight and make money is very short. It's a short window to be able to take advantage of this and make as much money as we can and save it for the future. When you're not fighting, and the money's not coming in, you can't do that, and that's the part that sucks about this job.
I think you learn a lot from losses.
When you know you are 100% and, you know, are ready to go, you just have that feeling. You know you are going to perform well.
That's how fighters get better. They watch film, and they work on what they need to work on.
Where I grew up, we had enough to get by, and we had a lot of love. That took me a long way.
The Latino people in the U.S. and the Mexicans in Mexico need a UFC champion. We have a rich tradition in boxing, and to not have a Mexican heavyweight champion is unheard of. We need it. I'm glad I'm able to be in a position to give them that champion they so desperately want.
To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement.
Coaches would have me in the gym do 1,000 kicks for a practice. I would do them until everyone was gone, until I had done all my kicks. People asked me why I would do it - that's stupid. But my coach told me to do something like that, and I knew it would benefit me, and I would do it.
I think Mark Hunt just has that knockout power, and that's pretty much it.
I am listening more to my body and maintaining it.
I just deal with what's at hand.
You always try to make your teammates better. You help out your teammates, and they help you out in return. As they get better and better, they can help you more and more. At least, I've always seen it that way.
I'm always trying to get better. There's always room for improvement.
I'm really proud of my coaches and the people I have training with me.
I represent hardworking people. That's who raised me. That's who I grew up around.
Both my parents came into the United States from Mexico.
I'm not a boxer.
Not being active, your name doesn't go out there as much, and you lose the popularity thing. Also, you're not able to make a living. This is what we do to make a living: we go out there and fight. Not being able to fight for a year and a half and not able to bring in money, it definitely sets you back.
Things happen for some reason. I don't know what, but I just think about the positives, focus on getting better, and that's it.
I just want to fight and not talk too much.
My dad had to quit school when he was in third grade. My mom had to quit school. They didn't know what I needed, and I didn't know what I needed to keep wrestling and go to school, so that's why I had to go to community college.
When you talk about me as a fighter, I like being known as a Mexican fighter. I think 'Mexican' or 'Hispanic' should be mentioned.
The name of the game is improving, and I've done that.
People know that if I'm 100 percent going into the fight, that there's no one out there that can touch me.
